The approval process

I called New Start at St. Alexius hospital, and got the ball rolling. There are many steps to go through to get approved for the surgery. You are first sent a huge packet to fill out. You have to list all your failed diet attempts. Not fun documenting how many times you have not succeeded. They ask you how much you lost and gained with each diet. You have to put your and your families medical history down, as well as any co-morbities you may have. Those are illnesses resulting from your obesity. I didn't have any, but that does not mean I was not a ticking time bomb, on my way to diabetes and hypertension. The next step was an appointment with my regular doctor. He had to say I was fit for surgery and a good canidate. He did. Then I had to have a psychiatric evaluation. This was quite an experience. I was sent a list of names and prices for the evaluation. I of course picked the cheapest. There was a reason he was the least expensive. He was very strange, and spent most of the appointment on the phone. I had rehearsed answers to what I thought he would ask. Like, yes I know that this is not a cure, but a tool. It is up to me to make it work ect. I didn't need any of those answers. He to found me to be a viable canidate. Then I had to attend the New Start seminar. It was held in the confrence room of a holiday inn. It was really full and that is where I picked my doctor. He was the speaker. My only question was would I be able to have children after the surgery. He said I would. Up until that point I had thought I would opt for the less invasive gastric band. I changed my mind after the seminar and decided to go whole hog and get the RNY gastric bypass. The big factor for me was, the band helped people lose an average of 50% of their excess body weight, and the bypass was at 70%. Also, the band requires many follow up visits and adjustments to get it right. I just wanted it done. The extra 20% seemed big enough for me to just go for it. I will tell you at this point, sitting in the meeting with my thin husband Chris was too funny. I told him if anyone asked to say he was an "after". Next, I met with the nutritionist. She gave me an idea of my post op diet, as well as the supplements I would be taking for the rest of my life. Vitamins everyday, no biggie. Not true, when you have to take a bunch of them and they have to be chewable, and not taken at the same time. After I had jumped through all of those hoops, my info was sent to the insurance. I had to wait for their approval, before I would even meet the doctor one on one.